ABOUT

Nancy Vienneau is a chef and retired caterer with 25 years of experience. She cooks and teaches at Second Harvest and blogs about her adventures with food at http://nancyvienneau.com. Reviews are written from anonymous visits to restaurants. Negative reviews are based on two or more visits. The Tennessean pays for all meals.

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If you’re in the mood for something fresh from the oven, be it sweet or savory, sometimes a trek down the road less traveled can bring true delight. With its international offerings, diverse and ever-changing, Nolensville Road never disappoints. On a recent trip down that global corridor, we discovered two Middle Eastern bakeries within blocks of each other: very different from the norm, very different from one another, and very tasty overall.

Have you ever had a Turkish bagel? How about a Turkish pizza? In their petite bakery/café, owners Ali and Pinar Kaya are happy to introduce you to these and other baked preparations of their homeland.

Tucked in an unassuming retail strip near Morton Avenue, Ephesus Bakery and Cafe presents a welcoming, homey place. There are a few set tables for dining, a display case of baked treats and a counter covered with large bubbled rounds of bread, still warm.

You might hear the exotic rhythms of Turkish instrumentals playing on the sound system or the laughter of a child, the Kayas’ son, at play. At this family-run operation, you will breathe in that good bread smell. All of the breakfast and lunch dishes emerge from the ovens fragrant and yeasty.

For a simple breakfast, try the simit. It is bagel-shaped, the circular bread twist covered with sesame seeds. It is a morning favorite in Turkey. Crisp and chewy, it is enjoyed with jam, fruit and yogurt, and often, just plain. For something heartier, we recommend the sujuk with eggs. Sujuk is the country’s sausage, made with beef, seasoned with sumac, garlic, red pepper and cumin. It is also very good in the pide.

Pides are oblong flatbreads, football shaped, spread with vegetables, meats, cheeses and baked in a hot oven, like a pizza. Often sold by street vendors in Turkey, these fresh-baked savories are inexpensive, filling and delicious. Ephesus offers four styles: cheese, beef sausage, ground lamb and diced lamb. We sampled both piquant sausage-cheese and the diced lamb layered with mild white cheese, and a sauce of tomatoes, bell peppers and onions. Terrific! Generously sized, the pide is cut into diagonal strips.

Before you leave, be sure to purchase a round of fresh bread, an Ephesus specialty. Flecked with black sesame seeds, it warms up crackly on the outside with a spongey interior. It is perfect for an open-face sandwich or drizzled with fruity olive oil.

Heavenly sweets

You cannot miss Basmah. The vibrant green building stands on the corner of Nolensville Road and Elgin Street and shouts out “Sweets Here!”

And what a paradise of sweets it is. Inside the colorful box is an open room with large display cases, laden with myriad cookies, cakes and pastries. There’s not just baklava, but baklavas — varieties with pistachios, walnuts or rosewater syrup. Some, cut into diamond shapes, have a cunning line of qashta — a delectable Arabian clotted cream — running between the layers of honeyed pistachio and phyllo. These could become your favorite.

There are “bird’s nests”: dainty rounds of frilled phyllo, each filled with nuts — some with cashews, some with pistachios — nestled in the pastry like little eggs. There are “eyelashes,” shredded phyllo pastry, and “fingers,” wrapped phyllo logs, both encasing qashta cream or ground nuts, all drenched in honey and simple syrup. Ambrosial bites.

Cookies? You can’t go wrong with the ones rolled in sesame seeds, toasty and less sweet than the other confections.

Cakes? You should try Basbousa, a traditional dense, one-layer cake made from semolina flour, soaked in syrup. Some are baked with coconut, whole and sliced almonds pressed into the surface of the cake. Some have a scatter of pistachios baked onto the top. Such choices.

And finally, there is knafeh. Its brilliant orange color is sure to catch your eye. An Arabian favorite, it is shredded phyllo pastry brushed with rosewater honey syrup baked with a layer of mild white cheese. Ground pistachios dust the top. It’s especially good served warm.

Everything is sold by the pound. There are a couple of tables where you can sit and enjoy your treat with a cup of coffee, but primarily, Basmah is designed for take-out. On our last pass through for a piece of mamoul madd dates, an orange-scented shortbread with a center stripe of dates, we noticed a woman holding a large silver platter. She was planning to assemble an array of Basmah goodies for a fabulous party tray. “I’m cheating,” she said with a smile. Yes, but it’s a worthwhile way to cheat.